2009 Decker Half Marathon

Today I ran the Decker Half Marathon. It was brutal day to say the least. Decker usually has weird weather and today was no different. I was cold and drizzly throughout the whole race...very miserable conditions. I met Rachel for a two mile warm up and then changed into shorts and put on my bib to get ready for the race. People came out of the Expo center building with about 5 minutes until the race started...smart!

As for the race, I found out I am in terrible shape and ran my slowest ever half marathon by 2 minutes. I started out OK, but had to stop to pee and things got worse after that. My stomach acted up so I slowed to the 9:00 range during miles 9 and 10. I finally pulled over and spent about 5 minutes in the can...not cool since that was the difference in my personal worst half marathon. Since I was a bit lighter I finished with some miles in the 8:30 range. My limited running over the past 4 weeks caught up with me. I am not sure what my next move is as far as this season goes. I don't think I can effectively run the marathon since it is only two months away. I may switch to the Half Distance Challenge and focus on a fast time at 3M. My foot held up really well...probably because my feet were cold and wet which may have numbed it. Anyway, I survived and got another half marathon on my running resume.